Suspect In Subway Attack Is Career Criminal

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — A CBS 3 I-Team Investigation now reveals that the suspect who allegedly tried to throw a SEPTA subway rider off of a Center City platform and in front of a train is a career criminal with a lengthy history of 35 arrests and numerous convictions.

33-year-old Alex Ayala is now charged with attempted murder for the noon attack on Memorial Day at the Walnut-Locust subway station.

Police say he fled the scene but was spotted nearby and arrested almost immediately by a SEPTA police officer.

The alleged victim, 17-year-old Courtney Wilcox, who was waiting for the train with a family member following a shopping trip, tells CBS3 she was only inches from being thrown onto the tracks before she was able to fight off her attacker and regain her balance. The train was only 10 feet away.

Wilcox says the attack was scary, and she’s convinced that she might have died had she not fought off the suspect.

Assistant District Attorney Mike Barry says his office will make sure that the suspect remains behind bars. Ayala, who lists his address as the city’s homeless shelter, is now being held on $100,000 bail.